South Wales Transport • Part 1

Brand new AEC Reliance/Willowbrook B53F 1950 (NCY 281F) leaves Brunswick Street depot. A change to the law in 1961 meant that future single deckers could be of 36 foot (11 metres) length, as distinct from the 30 footers which had been permitted since 1950. Although several of this length appeared elsewhere in the SWT fleet, the first bought specifically for Townhill appeared in 1968-69 and were numbered in the 1900s. A total of fifteen of these attractive Reliances were purchased and all were equipped to a Townhill specification with heavy-duty axles, even though several of them were allocated to depots away from Swansea. Certain of this type were used for an experimental livery incorporating white into the window surrounds and an innovative heating and ventilation system. Modern refinements such as heating elements laminated in the windscreens were intended to make drivers’ lives easier and contribute to safety. Significantly, a couple of them later numbered amongst the last AEC single deckers in the fleet when withdrawn in the late 1970s.